Raindrops on the Window Pane
by DontStopBealeiving
Summary: A series of unconnected one-shots. Enjoy! Chapt 3- Lucy is in danger and only Erza can save her. Will she make it in time?
1. The Storm

**I did my best, Bae. ;~; pls don't hate it xoxo**

When the weatherman said it was going to rain, he really wasn't kidding.

Lucy sighed, pulling the covers tightly around her. There was nothing she could do, she'd just have to wait for it to pass.

The rain pounded on her window relentlessly, as if it would shatter the glass. The wind sent drafts of cold air throughout the apartment that chilled Lucy to her very core. She'd be waiting there forever, it seemed. The storm was not letting up any time soon.

The blonde contemplating calling Natsu but he was probably busy. _Besides, _she thought, _he'd only make fun of me and I'd never hear the end of it._

She sat there, hugging her knees for quite some time.

x-x-x-x

It felt as though an eternity had passed, and the storm still had not let up. Lucy began to drift off to sleep, figuring that was the best way to pass the time.

But just as she was closing her eyes, a fierce knocking thundered throughout her small home. She tensed. _Who the hell would be out there in this typhoon? _Cautiously, she unclicked the lock and opened the door.

Before she could see who the visitor was, she was roughly shoved to the side, as the now-intruder stepped in. Lucy's jaw practically dropped. "Erza?!"

The redhead gave a timid wave. "Hello, Lucy." She smiled.

x-x-x-x

Lucy handed Erza a steaming cup of tea. After changing into some of Lucy's clothes, the redhead made haste in explaining herself.

"I'd been out on a job, not a big one, but a job nonetheless. And then all of a sudden, the sky decided to unleash hell. Before risking getting wet further, I rushed to the nearest shelter, which happened to be your house. Thank you for your hospitality. Would you mind my staying until the storm stops?" Lucy couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed that her friend had _unintentionally _come for help, however she smiled and nodded.

"Sure thing, Erza! Though I'll have to roll out a sleeping bag... I'll take the floor. You are the guest, after all!" Erza hushed her.

"Sleep in your own bed," she replied with an innocent smile.

"But you're th-"

"No I insist."

"No _I _insist." Before the argument progressed anymore, a lightbulb went off.

"I've got it! Why don't we both just sleep in the bed!" Lucy looked proud of this decision, while Erza blushed slightly.

She nodded.

x-x-x-x

The girls were both in Lucy's bed, chatting and laughing and having a generally good time, when the thunder sounded. Lucy winced. The redhead raised an eyebrow, deciding it best not to ask, and carried on the conversation.

But when Lucy kept glancing worriedly out the window, wincing at ever crash of thunder... Erza finally spoke up.

"Is something wrong?" Her brow knit in concern.

"No no, nothing is wrong! Everything is fine!" If there's one thing Erza had learned about her friend, it's that she was the worst liar in the history of everything.

The corners of the redheads lips turned up in one of her rare grins. "Lucy, are you afraid of storms?"

The blonde's eyes grew wide, while she fractically shook her head. "What? Me? No absolutely not! I am Luc-" thunder roared, and she flinched.

Erza chuckled quietly. "You're trembling."

She pulled Lucy into a tight embrace, and the blonde practically melted into the security of her strong arms. She gripped Erza's shirt as hard as physically possible. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, barely audible in the other girl's chest.

"You don't have to apologize. I think nothing less of you because of your fears, Lucy. We all have them. However, please accept that until this storm passes, I'm not leaving you, whether you want me to or not. I will not leave you alone." Tears pricked Lucy's eye. "Have you always been afraid of them?" the redhead asked softly. A nod came in response.

"It's pathetic, I know. I'm not nearly as strong as you are... or Natsu or Gray or anyone for that matter. I'm afraid of a _storm_ for fuck's sake!" After stating this, she was trembling a bit more.

Erza sighed and held her tighter. She stroked her hair, something that comforted Lucy very much. "That's not true. I'm afraid of thing too, you know."

_Why is she being so affectionate? I've never seen her act this warm towards another person before... It's kind of adorable._ "Yeah? Like what?"

"Well, I'm afraid of not being able to protect the people I love. I'm afraid of not being able to protect _you_." Her breath hitched in her throat. She finally said what she'd been desiring for quite some time. It felt good to say it, but she immediately worried if Lucy was going to neglect her for it. She worried that the blonde would never want to see her again, and throw her out of her home at this instant into the cold rain.

The silence that followed was deafening. All that could be heard was the splattering of raindrops on the window pane.

Ten seconds went by... Twenty... Thirty...

"Do you really mean that?" Lucy's voice was nothing but a whisper.

"I do."

Lucy wrapped her arms around Erza, pulling them as close to each other as possible. "Why?"

Erza contemplated her words for a moment. "Because, when you smile, it's like the clouds part and the sun shines down on everyone. It's contagious. When I'm out on missions, sometimes my sole motivation is coming home to that smile. You're the sweetest girl I know, and if anyone ever tells you otherwise, I will smear them into the ground. You are walking perfection, in every possible way. So what if you're afraid of a storm? I'll be here to hold you and lend you my strength until you need it no more."

Another great silence fell upon the two.

Then with a grand crash of thunder, Lucy ran her hands up Erza's back, coming to rest around her neck. She pressed her lips against the redhead's, gentle at first, but passionate by the end.

"I love you too."

Never again did Lucy Heartfilia suffer through a storm alone.


	2. Day Off

Erza and Lucy walked along, hands entangled, large smiles etched into their faces.

It was a rare occasion where neither girl had a job to do, and they certainly took advantage of it.

They spent the entire day together, going shopping, getting lunch, and topping it off by walking near the river.

"I come down here when I want to clear my mind! It's really peaceful and tranquil," Lucy said.

How could Erza say no? She smiled to herself while her girlfriend sat under a tree, patting the soft grass beside her.

The world seemed to stop whenever the two were together. It was one of the few situations where Erza would let her affection pour out of her, and Lucy would drink it all in.

Lucy laid her head down in the other girl's lap, who took the liberty of tangling her fingers in the soft blonde hair.

"The sunset is really beautiful..." Erza thought for a moment before proceeding. "But not quite as beautiful as you."

Lucy blushed a bright shade of red. "Hush, you flirt." She sighed peacefully.

However, the last thing the redhead did was hush.

"You're more beautiful than a lot of things, actually. Strawberry cake, for starters... As impossible as that may sound. Lillies... The first snowfall of winter... I could go on forever."

Lucy was now the brightest shade of red she could possibly be, blushing from head to toe. But Erza continued.

"All of my armors combined... Lacrimas... Even Mira..." Her eyes widened in surprise, as she was hushed by the blonde's lips pressing into her own.

"Would you" kiss "shut" kiss "up." Lucy made her way down the redhead's jawline, finally coming to a rest on her collarbone. Erza's sweet spot.

The knight squirmed, left powerless and melting under the lips of her beloved. "Lucy cut it out, we're in public!" She stopped and raised an amused eyebrow.

"Oh? Yeah look at all the people around us," she said sarcastically. There was no one around, they were in a secluded area of the riverbank.

Lucy continued her assault.

She was rarely the one in charge, and she was enjoying this maybe a little bit too much. Seeing the knight mage reduced to mush was adorable, and Lucy just couldn't get enough.

"Enough!"

She nipped at Erza's collarbone one last time before finally pulling away pouting. "Yes ma'am," Lucy grumbled.

Erza smiled and fell back, sprawled out in the grass. She pulled Lucy down with her and looked up at the clouds.

Lucy's eyes narrowed with the complexity of a plan so wicked, her girlfriend would never see it coming. "You're more beautiful than that cloud right there," she pointed at a random cloud.

"And that one... And that one... That one too." She carried on and on, pointing at the countless clouds as she went.

Needless to say, the results were not what she was hoping for.

A hand quickly clamped over her mouth, and refused to lift no matter how many times she licked it.

She wriggled around trying to break free of Erza's hold, but she was significantly weaker than her counterpart.

It was then that she was quite literally swept off of her feet and slung over Erza's shoulder.

She kicked a little. "What are you doing? Where are we going?!"

"Quiet, fair maiden. I've been prompted to take you home at once to bed."

Lucy smirked.

Her plan had worked.


	3. Her Noble Knight

Things were not going well...

Taurus lay meters away, too bloodied to even return to his key. Lucy stood, facing an opponent formidable even for the strongest wizards of Fairy Tail. Maybe even all of them combined...

Yet there she was alone.

The mission hadn't gone as planned to say the least. It was simple enough. Find out what was stealing chickens from the farmer's pen and eliminate it.

The creature she now faced was easily three times her size. What it was doing stealing chickens, Lucy had no clue, when it could effortlessly devour a cow in two bites.

The reward for the job was high as well. It could pay her rent for months on end.

She refused to be defeated. She'd survived a lot, and certainly would not let it end here. Besides, she had someone waiting for her when she finally returned home.

The creature release a blood curdling screech, and Lucy doubled over in pain. She couldn't hear anything apart from a loud ringing that now occupied her sense. _Losing a sense in this fight has got to be the worst possible thing..._ she thought.

Luckily just in time, she ducked underneath the swipe of a claw. She could smell the rancid breath of the beast and knew she needed to get out of the way fast. She'd have to use her other senses, if hearing was out.

From what she could tell, the creature had no eyes. Its fangs were the longest she'd ever seen, and its tongue snaked out of its mouth. It had massive claws that would rip flesh apart on contact, not to mention its sheer strength. It looked as if it belonged in Hell, rather than on this existential plane. Lucy was almost positive that this beast was upsetting the balance of the ecosystem.

The odds certainly were not in her favor.

She realized then that maybe she wouldn't make it home alive. Maybe she'd never see her beloved Erza again. She tried shaking the thought away, but she couldn't. Looking at the current state of herself, compared to the creature... well she had roughly a thirty percent chance of survival. She'd already lost a considerable amount of blood due to a deep gash in her thigh, and was almost out of stamina. The creature was virtually unharmed.

In this moment of unawareness, while lost in her thoughts, the beast swung its massive arm towards the girl. She couldn't get out of the way in time, still cupping her ear.

Lucy was thrown through the air and into a tree with such force that the trunk of it splintered and a sickening crack echoed throughout the forest. She didn't need a doctor to know that quite a few of her ribs were shattered in the blow.

The blonde tried to move, she really did try her hardest, but she couldn't. She lay crumpled on the ground defenseless. Tears poured from her eyes, her body painfully quivering with sobs.

_I can't die here, dammit. I've come too far... but it hurts **oh God it hurts** just kill me now._

Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. _I can't just give up. _In reality, there was nothing she could do. She couldn't move. Even breathing hurt.

The creature raised its massive arm for the final blow.

In one last effort, she shrieked the name of her love. "ERZA PLEASE GOD HELP!"

Lucy shut her eyes tight and waited for death. And waited... and waited... But it never came.

"Just kill me," she sobbed. "Make it quick. I beg you."

"I hope you're not referring to me, love." _Erza? How? I was a goner for sure... There's no way... I don't care. It hurts... it hurts... it really hurts... _Erza sat Lucy up, speaking quietly and softly. "Easy now. I would never be able to do that to you." She brushed the hair from Lucy's face and tenderly caressed her cheek. "Now tell me, what hurts."

"Ribs... Leg... everything." Lucy was finding it more difficult by the second to stay conscious.

Erza's brow knit as she lifted her girlfriend's shirt to assess the damage to her ribs. "Definitely broken..." She lightly brushed her fingers against the skin, but even this gentle gesture had Lucy in hysterics. "Babe, I need you to calm down, okay?" A nod. "I'm getting you home. Now."

The knight gently scooped Lucy up into her arms, the girl unconscious and whimpering.

x-x-x-x

Lucy came to two days later.

She found herself in a hospital bed, an IV drip in her arm, heavily covered in bandages and horribly and incredibly sore. Groggily looking to her left, she discovered her savior, face down, head resting on the arm without the IV. The blonde giggled, an effort that caused her to wince.

Erza bolted upright upon hearing the cute giggle she loved so much. "Oh my God Lucy do you know how worried I was?! They -the doctors- said you may never wake up and I don't know what I'd do if that happened, y'know? I mean I want to spend the rest of my life with you and how could I do that if you weren't even alive? It would be awful! I love you so much I'm so glad that you're here now please don't ever leave me again, I'm begging you!" Lucy's lips formed a little "o" at this outburst.

Erza was crying when all was said and done and she had a vice-grip on Lucy's hand. "Promise me, Lucy. Please."

The blonde was having a rough time forming words. "I... Erza... You saved me. I was dead for sure..." Her hand went to her chest, forming a tight fist. "I could feel it. I was so afraid, Erza. I thought I'd never be able to see you again... And the pain my death would cause. I could feel myself dying. I thought I was dead. Yet here I am. Because of you." Both of them were sobbing at this point. "I promise, Erza Scarlet. I won't leave you."

Erza brushed her girlfriend's tears away with her thumb, and leaned in to kiss her slowly.

x-x-x-x

The next day when the doctor discharged Lucy, the girls were more than ecstatic.

"Keep her on bed rest for a week at least, change her bandages regularly... And just take care of her. She isn't going to be able to do much, after all." Erza nodded silently. Lucy felt bad in relation to her dependency.

But the redhead didn't mind it at all, in fact she rather enjoyed it. Natsu would stop in for the occasional visit, and even Gray stopped in once or twice.

The girls slept together for the first time in a while, Erza of course being the big spoon. Lucy would be lying if she said she didn't miss it.


	4. The Fight

"That was just plain _reckless_, Lucy! Swallow your arrogance and be more careful!" Erza was fuming, fists clenched.

"If I hadn't chased them off, in case you couldn't tell_,_ we may have _all_ died..." The blonde harumphed and crossed her arms. She was right, Erza was wrong. There wasn't a single doubt about it.

"Well what if _you_ died?" The stronger woman's lip quivered at the thought.

"Then I would have died. Oh well..." Lucy was so determined to win the argument... She didn't even know what she was saying, in truth.

"Unbelievable..." Erza rolled her eyes and turned around.

"You can't always be the knight. Quit being so full of yourself." That stung. Bad.

Natsu and Gray clung to each other in fear of what Erza's next move was. They knew that last comment struck a nerve. They were certain she would explode.

But she didn't.

The redhead simply sighed and walked away, shoulders slumped and staring at the ground.

Lucy turned to the boys. "I was right, wasn't I?!" They both nodded quickly, afraid of what the blonde would do if she was told 'no.'

x-x-x-x

It had been a couple of days since the fight, and neither girl had spoken with the other. They were both so stubborn, and Mira was thoroughly annoyed with it.

So she took action and arranged a meeting. It was a surprise. Erza thought she was just meeting up to talk to Mira, and Lucy the same. They certainly were not expecting to be sat down across from each other.

"Oh lord..." Lucy was already annoyed.

Erza, however, sat silently, thinking about what she would even say to her girlfriend. They hadn't talked for a while... Maybe Lucy was wrong, but that's no excuse to not talk to her. She loved her with all her heart, and missed her a great deal.

"Now you two, what happened? Why have you been so uptight and why are you avoiding each other?" Mira was practically acting like a mother, but this whole thing had gone on long enough.

Lucy crossed her arms. "Well, I saved everyone and Erza completely freaked out. So the moral of the story is to never help people." She mocked a bow.

The redhead played with the hem of her shirt and remained completely silent. All eyes were on her. "Erza...?" Mira placed a hand on her shoulder, which was quickly shaken off. Silence.

Lucy huffed. "She's just upset because she didn't get to be the hero this time." She stormed off. No one stopped her.

Mira was still staring at Erza, concerned beyond belief. It was as if the great Titania wasn't even there. Just a shell.

"You know, Erza... I don't think you really did anything wrong. Talk to me, please?" Nothing. "Want some strawberry cake?" No response. "Come on, this isn't like you at all. Why won't you do something? At least tell me what _I_ can do!"

" 'You can't always be the knight...' " Erza mumbled.

Mira was confused, to say the least. "What do you mean? Did she say that to you?" Erza raised her head, tears brimming her eyes threatening to fall at any moment. "Oh sweetie..."

"She's right, Mira. She could have died, and there was nothing I'd have been able to do. I can't always be the knight. I can't..." Her voice was quivering too much to continue.

x-x-x-x

Rather than dealing with her problems, Lucy had taken the easy way out.

She changed into pajamas and slipped into bed with a dissatisfied sigh.

Lucy was really disappointed in herself, truth be told. She curled up into a ball, burrying her face in her knees. She really missed Erza.

The blonde had no idea how long she'd been like that.

She gasped as strong arms wrapped around her waist while someone climbed into bed behind her, taking up the role of the big spoon.

Familiar lips pressed against the back of her neck. She shivered, having a general idea of who was behind her.

"Don't look so glum, sugar plum." It was definitely Erza. Lucy relaxed, only to tense again.

"Listen, I'm really sorry. I can't apologize enough. I'm so stubborn... If you want leave me, that's fine. If that's what you came here to tell me then..." She trailed off. She was afraid of the response.

"Lucy, calm down. I certainly did not climb into your bed to tell you I'm leaving you," Erza stated softly. "I'm sorry too. Instead of avoiding this I should have just talked to you. Please forgive me."

The blonde sighed in relief. "But I did say some pretty terrible things..."

"No. Even knights need someone to save them sometimes."


End file.
